Iʻm a 2026 graduate who is in the process of making my final college decision. Iʻve narrowed it down to Bowdoin and Amherst. Before visiting Bowdoin, I would’ve said no to attending because it’s all the way in Maine and that is pretty far from where I currently reside. The weather would be a jurassic change. But after visiting, Iʻve learned so much like how they ice skate on the quad in winter, that they have some of the best dorms and food in the country, and that the community is incredibly welcoming with a family-like atmosphere. Everybody was super nice to me and I really loved it there. Iʻm a recruited athlete and really loved the competitive atmosphere at Bowdoin, especially knowing it has a strong athletic tradition. The coach was also very nice and the team was super meaningful in forming connections and including me. On the other hand, Iʻm also interested in Amherst because it has a history of producing national championships and players of the year. I like how Amherst has an open curriculum and the fact that it’s part of a five-college consortium, offering even more opportunities. The team was also fun and great too. When comparing Maine to Massachusetts, I feel like there would be more to do in Massachusetts. Plus, Amherst is about to open a new $400 million Student Center and Dining Hall next year, which I find pretty impressive. I plan to major in Psychology or Biology. I need help making a decision!
Where do you currently reside?
My guess is Amherst isn’t that much different than Brunswick in regards to where, weather, etc.
Why is there more to do in MA than ME? What do you like to do?
You’ve listed great pros for all.
You felt welcome at both, seems like you like the academics better at Amherst though.
Heads you win, tails you win.
Only you can decide.
If you can’t play your sport (injuries, etc), which would you prefer?
If it were me, Bowdoin all day. It’s a wonderful location and the students are just nicer and funner.
I am from Hawaii so it definitely would be a change. I always wanted to go to the east coast though. I feel with Amherst being apart of the five college consortium, it makes the area just a vibrant college town feel. Packed with students everywhere and itʻs arts/cultural scenes. Brunswick is more relaxed but when I went I felt it was beautiful as well.
Sounds like you win either way.
Which is easier to travel to.
Also a wash 
Good luck. And congrats.
These schools are more alike than different. Both great liberal arts colleges, both in the NESCAC. Brunswick would be a quieter town than Amherst (because of the other colleges around), but it is not far from Portland ME, and there’s an AMTRAK, so you could explore that if you wanted bigger city life. Maybe you felt closer to one of the teams/coaches, that could be a pro/con. But as others have said, you can’t go wrong here. THe Maine coast (very different from that of Hawaii!), or the hills of the Pioneer Valley, both prototypical New England small colleges. Bowdoin used to have a reputation for being slightly more laid back than Amherst (this was a generation ago), but I suspect that may no longer be the case.
I think the two would be equally easy to reach from Hawaii. Both would involve at least one connection. For Amherst, you’d fly into Hartford/Springfield, and it would be maybe 30-40 minutes from there, likely by bus or cab. For Bowdoin, you’d fly into Portland, and it would be about 30 minutes by bus, cab, or train. Or, alternatively, you could fly into Boston, from which you’d take a bus or train (Amtrak goes through Brunswick).
As to weather, coming from Hawaii, there won’t be a noticeable difference between the two. Bowdoin is north but coastal, which is a little milder. Interior areas (like where Amherst is) get more snow. Six of one…
Both are in great locations: both great for outdoors activities, both in cute and vibrant small towns. Amherst is close to a network of small towns with lots going on, and Bowdoin is close to Portland, which is a fantastic city (and accessible by train from Brunswick). You’re going to have plenty to do either way.
Great choices!
Do you mean the decision about which one to apply ED to?
Which one would you prefer if you got hurt and couldn’t play your sport any more?
Both are fantastic LACs. Congrats on the wonderful opportunities. This is a case where two reasonable people could make two different choices. IMO this is a decision you (in consultation with your family) should make.
Yes
I was thinking the exact same thing…
The weather at either Bowdoin or Amherst College would be a “jurassic” change from Hawaii. However, I do not think that the weather is going to vary much between Brunswick as compared to Amherst. Bowdoin is indeed a bit further north. However it is also a lot closer to the coast. Being close to the coast probably impacts the weather more than being further north. As such in terms of being bitterly cold on a winter evening, I do not think that they are going to vary much. Either location will get lots of snow. I would need to do a Google search to figure out which is colder or gets more snow (and this is after living somewhere between the two for decades and visiting both many times). Summers, if you get to stay on campus in the summer, might be a bit milder in Brunswick, but either will be quite nice in the summer.
I would expect there to be opportunities to skate at either school. If you have never skated, expect to fall down a lot. Amherst College would be closer to downhill ski areas, although I am not a huge fan of learning to ski after reaching double digits in age (my kids and I all learned to ski when we were young). I used to teach first graders how to ski, and when they fell down I would occasionally try to guess (to myself entirely in my head only) which part of me would have broken if I had fallen the same way. We get less elastic as we get older.
I am guessing the same thing that @ucbalumnus guessed that you may be trying to decide which to ED to. I am doubting that you have already gotten acceptances to both. If you do get into both, I can see how this would be a tough decision.
If you are planning to apply ED, make sure that both would be affordable for you. I will admit that the results were not encouraging for us years ago when I ran the NPC’s for both schools, but your results may vary.
To me this would be a significant positive.
You make some good points. Sorry, I meant to write out in my original post, both places in weather would be a jurassic change not just Maine. I just know Maine is a little colder from what Iʻve heard. But, these replies are all reassuring saying Bowdoin is less cold because itʻs on the coast. I have ice skated many times before and Iʻm excited to get a little better at that. Thank you for also telling me about those ski areas as I go snowboarding every spring break since I was younger. I have done net price calculators for both schools and they both come down to a respectable amount that is similar and affordable for my family and I. Just a matter of where I choose to go.
With respect to winter climate, the average January low temperature for Amherst is 13 °F and that for Brunswick is 9 °F. Average snowfall amounts are 42 inches annually for Amherst and 66 inches annually for Brunswick.
Seconding the opinion that they are more alike than similar. Brunswick, Maine has great public transportation (bus and train) options to Boston. Portland is a small city but a city nonetheless. So a finger on the scale for access to a bigger city if that matters. Really, at either of these schools, there’s so much to do on campus that accessibility to other places should not influence much.
Amherst has more students owing to the 5 colleges.
Both are NESCAC schools and probably have similar travel for your sport. The Maine schools have a lot of fun with the BBC rivalry.
You may also want to go through the exercise of planning out your 4 years in your planned major, taking into account distribution requirements, study abroad, etc and see if there are meaningful differences.
There is good skiing in Maine, but you’ll need a little road trip to get to it. I’d choose Bowdoin, but that is only personal preference. Maine is a really special state, and getting a chance to live there is pretty great. But then again, I’d be pretty excited to live in Hawaii too!
You really can’t go wrong on this one. Both are excellent, well-resourced institutions in beautiful settings.
For a few brief comments on Amherst, see this post: NESCAC Spoken Here: - #5 by merc81.
Both are amazing choices, congrats! My son was talking with both schools earlier on in his recruiting and visited both, but neither ended up recruiting his position this year (he’s likely committing to a different NESCAC). As far as Brunswick versus Amherst, I don’t think you can go wrong either way. The college town of Amherst is right there and it’s right next door to UMass. However, Brunswick looked like it would be fun too (in a different way). Plus Portland (really cute city on the water with amazing food) is only 45 minutes away and you could also take Amtrak to Boston and be there in 2 hours.
Something to consider is getting to and from both schools from Hawaii. My home airport is Hartford (aka Bradley) and it does not have any direct flights to the west coast (except Vegas), much less Hawaii. Most people here who are flying to Hawaii from here typically fly out of NYC or Boston because there are better options. I know Brunswick, ME has a coach bus that goes directly to Logan airport in Boston, not sure if Amherst has any buses that go to the airports in NYC or Boston (they do have one to Hartford though). Just something to think about. Good luck!
I think it would be fun attending the same college that graduated a 33 y/o mayor of the City of New York. Amherst had its day in the 1960s when David Eisenhower was courting Julie Nixon, but IMO it’s Bowdoin that has the wind at its back currently. 
One thing to keep in mind, which might not be obvious to someone from Hawaii, is that it is not unusual to get snow up here in the northeast, and this might occur sometime around about Christmas / New Year’s travel. Back when both daughters were in university we have had both daughters run into snow problems either getting from university to home or from home to university. One daughter missed her classes one Monday in early January because she couldn’t get there from here on time. Fortunately a lot of students missed that particular day of classes at her school. If flying from Hawaii to the northeast of the US, of course you won’t run into snow at your end. If you change planes in San Francisco or LA you won’t get snow in the middle either. If you change planes in Chicago you very well might run into snow there even if both ends are okay.
This is a long way to go for an undergraduate education.
However, both of these colleges are excellent, you can get an excellent education at either, and you will get to experience a significantly different part of the USA.
I would check out the travel options before deciding which school to ED to. Of course another option is to avoid ED altogether, and decide in March or April where to go.
Some airports like San Francisco and Chicago O’Hare commonly have flight delays, so missing your connecting flight is a significant risk going through those airports.